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African pygmy mouse
Photographed in Western Cape
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Domain:
Eukaryota
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Chordata
Class:
Mammalia
Order:
Rodentia
Family:
Muridae
Genus:
Mus
Species:
M. minutoides
Binomial name
Mus minutoides
(A Smith, 1834)
Synonyms[1]
Mus kasaicus(Cabrera, 1924)
The African pygmy mouse (Mus minutoides) is one of the smallest rodents. It is widespread within sub-Saharan Africa, and is kept as a pet in other parts of the world. Like the common and widely introduced european house mouse, it is a member of the enormous superfamily Muroidea, which includes over 1000 different species. It forms a super- species complex with Mus musculoides.[1]
Grey to brick-red overall, it is pale on the underside and has small but prominent triangular ears. Adults are between 30 and 80 mm (1.2 and 3.1 in) long, with a 15 to 40 mm (0.59 to 1.57 in) tail, and weigh from 2 to 12 g (0.071 to 0.423 oz).
African pygmy mice reach breeding age at about 6 to 8 weeks. Pregnancy lasts for around 20 days and the litter of about three young is born blind and hairless. Their eyes open after 2 weeks, and weaning is complete after 4 weeks. The lifespan is about 2 years, although individual specimens have been reported to live over 4 years in captivity.
The African pygmy mouse has a number of unique traits. It stacks pebbles in front of its burrow. Overnight, the pebbles gather dew and in the morning, the pygmy mouse drinks the dew on the pebbles. After that, it retires to its den. Its method of sex determination has also been found to differ from most mammals[2] in that rearrangements of the X chromosome have led to many XY individuals actually being female.
They live in colonies or in pairs in grass close to water and are excellent climbers.
^ abcChild, M.F. & Monadjem, A. (2017) [errata version of 2016 assessment]. "Mus minutoides". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2016: e.T13970A115117374. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T13970A22405371.en. Retrieved 27 November 2023.
^Frederic Veyrunes; Pascale Chevret; et al. (2010). "A novel sex determination system in a close relative of the house mouse". Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 277 (1684): 1049–1056. doi:10.1098/rspb.2009.1925. PMC 2842770. PMID 20007182.
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